Arms dealers collect a lot of enemies, so even on her home turf, Koko is always a target.
What They Say
A ruthless arms dealer on a quixotic quest for world peace. A child soldier born into chaotic conflict. Their lives will intertwine as they journey together through the seedy underbelly of the world’s arms market.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It’s always a bummer to come across a show you weren’t expecting much from, fall in love with it, get your expectations built up to unreasonably high levels, and then have them forcibly brought back down. Unfortunately, that’s what happens with this episode. The fundamentals of the show are solid, and many of the details of this episode are fantastic, but overall this is an episode that just doesn’t work.
The episode opens in the deserts of Oman, where we’re introduced to a quirky pair of assassins who have hunted down a mafioso who stole some money. The quirky assassin pair, sort of a Bonnie & Clyde type, are kind of becoming cliche in action shows of this nature, and they feel somewhat out of place. Jormungand, the story of a bishoujo arms dealer and her mercenary troop, was obviously never aiming for realism, but all of the quirky characters up to this point have a tenuous connection to reality. The two members of the assassin group Orchestra that we’re introduced to here feel like cartoon characters.
The man, known only as “Master” in this episode, pushes the “orchestra” metaphor heavily, going on and on about how guns are his instruments and gunfire is music to his ears. He also has shark teeth. Whether this is just cartoon bending of reality or whether he really filed his teeth down to look like that is unexplained. I can’t really imagine this helps him remain undercover, and it makes him come across as a shounen villain. The girl is Chinatsu, a devoted, psychopathic schoolgirl who doesn’t wear panties. Child soldier Jonah is presented with a certain amount of decency as being wounded by war, but Chinatsu’s jailbait assassin schtick stands out in stark contrast. These two don’t belong in this world, or Jormungand’s world is less than what I expected.
Anyway, the psycho killers end up finishing off the mafioso with a kind of machine that Chinatsu built that fires a gun while it plays music. It’s a gruesome touch that definitely lets you know that these are unbalanced assassins, but compared to the idiosyncrasies of Valmet or Mildo, it seems hamfisted. Characters thus established, Master decides that they’ll take another job, and it’s no surprise that their target is Koko.
Koko is first seen here helping Tojo teach math to young Jonah, who surprised the entire group with his lack of basic education in a fairly amusing airport scene. It’s pragmatic of Koko to teach Jonah other skills besides fighting, but it also shows she’s more decent than one might suspect with her taking on a child soldier. Their relationship is not one of pure exploitation, although obviously Koko is still getting the better end of the deal. Valmet asks Koko out on a date, and Koko accepts, leaving Jonah to his studies. Bored with math and with a keen sense of danger, Jonah skips out and decides to follow Koko and Valmet to the shopping district.
Valmet’s love for Koko is her undoing, as she’s too distracted to see the approach of Orchestra. Chinatsu walks up to Koko and tries to grab hold of her and speak to her, instead of just shooting her in the back of the head like any decent assassin would do. Koko isn’t helpless, and is able to fight back long enough for Jonah to save the day. Once bullets start flying, Valmet goes on the alert attempts to shoot down Orchestra as well. There’s shouting and shooting, and an awful lot of missing and firing precious bullets into concrete barriers. It’s supposed to establish that Koko’s life is always in danger, and that Jonah’s far too reckless as a child soldier, but it’s not choreographed well at all. “Master” is able to shoot police snipers at 100 meters away, but can’t hit Koko who’s much closer?
It’s not all terrible, and there are some great character moments that make this a show I’m happy to stick with. Koko nonchalantly smiles and walks through the gunfight, supremely confident at all times. Valmet’s disappointment at being unable to protect her beloved is endearing. It’s also nice that Koko and Lehm both encourage Jonah to discuss his frustration with fighting and weapons, and they encourage him to develop his own opinions at the same time they chide him for the unnecessary risks he takes.
In Summary
We’re introduced to two new trainwreck characters in this episode who work to derail the pleasant quirkiness the show has presented thus far. Fortunately, they’re cannon fodder and shouldn’t last more than an episode or two more. This episode works to further endear the main cast into my heart, and it’s Koko, Valmet, Jonah, and Lehm that I’ll be sticking around for, long after shark man has bit the dust.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: Funimation
Review Equipment: Sony VAIO 17″ HD screen